Muscle Activation of Serratus Anterior during Self-Resisted Scapular Protraction with Forward Flexion on Unstable Surface in Sitting Position

Abstract

This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons. org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Purpose The purpose of this study was to compare muscle activity of SA during three different scapular protraction exercises according to various conditions [Forward flexion with protraction (FFP), FFP with self-resistance (FFPS), FFPS with hand-exerciser (FFPSH)] in healthy individuals in sitting position. Study design Comparative, repeated measures designMethods Twenty subjects were participated. The muscle activity of SA, upper trapezius (UT) and pectoralis major (PM) were measured by using a surface electromyography device. Each subject was asked to perform three different scapular protraction exercises (FFP vs. FFPS vs. FFPSH) in random order. One-way repeated measures analysis of the variance and a Bonferroni post hoc test were used. The level of statistical significance was set at α=0.01. ResultsThe muscle activity of SA and the SA/UT ratio were significantly different among three conditions (FFP vs. FFPS vs. FFPSH) (p<0.01). The muscle activity of SA and the SA/UT ratio during FFPSH were significantly greater compared to those with FFP and FFPS (p<0.01). However, the SA/PM ratio was not significantly different among three conditions (p>0.05).Conclusions FFPSH exercise for facilitation of SA muscle can be recommended.